Monday, January 26:
English translation of Das Rheingold and Siegfried; soon the whole Ring will appear (Alfred Forman).
Letter from Malwida in San Remo: she was ill, but is now enjoying the south. “I thank God for every bright cloud I see here,” and R. observes it is just a matter of degree; the poetic spirit will be awakened just as much here as down there. The gemstone flashes but faintly, nevertheless it flashes!
Repeated news from Cologne: Die Meistersinger seems to be a great success there, the only sad thing is that this success means nothing to us!
The Indians in the evening penetrated further, and saw that Buddhism was the fulfillment of Brahmanism, the first directed toward pure knowledge, the latter toward ethics. To end with, R. reads me some of Aristophanes's Lysistrata, great fun.